Malaika's Costume

It's Carnival time. The first Carnival since Malaika's mother moved to Canada to find a good job and provide for Malaika and her grandmother. Her mother promised she would send money for a costume, but when the money doesn't arrive, will Malaika still be able to dance in the parade?

Disappointed and upset at her grandmother's hand-me-down costume, Malaika leaves the house, running into Ms. Chin, the tailor, who offers Malaika a bag of scrap fabric. With her grandmother's help, Malaika creates a patchwork rainbow peacock costume, and dances proudly in the parade.

A heartwarming story about family, community and the celebration of Carnival, Nadia Hohn's warm and colloquial language and Irene Luxbacher's vibrant collage-style illustrations make this a strikingly original picture book. (From Groundwood Books)

Nadia L. Hohnis a writer, musician and educator based in Toronto, Ont. Having previously written nonfiction educational books for children, she is the author of several popular picture books, includingMalaika's Winter Carnivaland the biographicalHarriet Tubman: Freedom Fighter.

Irene Luxbacher is an award-winning Torontoartist and author.

She was namedone of six black Canadian writers to watch in 2018, and won the Helen Isobel Sissons Canadian Children's Story Award in 2016. Her children's fiction blends standard English and Caribbean patois, telling black stories from an often underrepresented point of view.

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